An Undersea, Unexplained Mass Sponge Migration
by wildmushrooms
Summary: Before they were Ghostbusters, Ray and Peter were just two unemployed parapsychologists. In this cornerstone event, Ray explores the depths of the ocean to research the movement of sea sponges, which he strongly believes is being caused by paranormal activity. Peter, who's along for the ride, isn't so convinced.


White sunlight sparkled across the cobalt sea on a bright, warm day in late August.  
Ray and Peter bobbed along the water in the rickety old boat they had hired, the water lapping rhythmically against the sides creating an almost soporific effect.

It was the summer of 1980 and Peter was doing Ray a favour by accompanying him down to Florida, where Ray had wanted to dive along the West Coast to explore the local marine life.  
He'd developed a keen interest in marine biology over the summer after briefly dating a Floridian native at Columbia University the previous semester.  
Ray was curious to research the marine life and any connections there may be with the paranormal.  
Peter had joked that Ray was clutching at straws to find a reason, any reason, to justify his degree in parapsychology, but he accompanied him for the journey anyway. After all, it was summertime in Florida and he assured himself that there would be flocks of babes in bikinis wanting help applying their sunscreen.

They were now on their final day of their trip and Ray had been eager to do one last dive to confirm his theory on the movement of a cluster of sea sponges he'd been monitoring for the past two weeks.  
Peter sucked in the salty air as he watched Ray slip on his diving gear, relieved that it was Ray going under the water and not himself.  
He much preferred sitting on board the little boat to work on his tan while he waited for Ray.  
"This is going to be it Venkman! I can smell the undeniable proof of paranormal existence in the air! This is going to be the study that will prove it! Yeager is going to flip his lid when he reads my report!" said Ray excitedly as he made his way to the edge of the boat.  
All Peter could smell in the air was rotting fish carcasses.  
With a loud splash, Ray hit the water.  
He kicked his fins and disappeared under the surface while Peter watched on, wiping stray water droplets from his face.

Ray enjoyed the silence of the water and found peace in being surrounded by nothing but the vast blue openness and a few silver fish.  
He made his way to the ocean floor and moved along the bottom, looking for the sea sponges he'd been closely observing.  
He tried to use the coral and rocks to guide his way, but he'd found this strategy had sometimes just led him around in circles.  
_Ah ha, there they are,_ thought Ray, catching sight of the sponges.  
With a final kick of his fins he made his way over to the group of twenty or thirty bright yellow sponges that stood out against the blue and green backdrop of the ocean floor, like stars in the night sky.  
Ray moved his hand down to his utility belt and felt around for his tape measure.  
Pulling it out from his belt and extending the tape, he measured the movement the sponges had made since yesterday, taking a mental note of the difference.  
He reached for his camera and snapped some new photos, which he'd later add to the report on his findings.

Ray took one final look at the group of sea sponges on the ocean floor.  
_They definitely look different from yesterday,_ he thought to himself, a sense of excitement running through his body.  
He turned around and looked up to see the dark outline of the rental boat bobbing on the waters surface.  
Ray felt like the sea sponges were leading him to something big.  
_It's gotta be paranormal,_ he rationalised on his leisurely ascent. _An underwater poltergeist or psychokinesis disturbance could be the cause. Maybe even some sort of nautical phenomenon like a mermaid! This is going to be it, the breakthrough I've been looking for!_

Little did Ray know that he'd been mistakenly studying at least two different groups of sea sponges over the last fortnight.  
The sponges off Florida's West Coast had in fact not moved at all.  
Not even an inch.  
Comparing Ray's photos on return to New York, Peter caught on to this fact but didn't have the heart to tell Ray.  
Not wanting to discourage his passion for the paranormal, he insisted the sponges had only moved "a little bit" and gently implied that Ray's time would be better spent investigating the spiritual realm from the safety of dry land – a suggestion that Ray began to throw himself into with great gusto.

And the rest, they say, is history.


End file.
